
In my many years consulting as a naturopath and assessing patients diets, the one meal where many people struggled (nutritionally), was breakfast. I found that so many people were searching for more energy, productivity and better general health; spending large sums of money on supplements and searching for the ‘magic bullet,’ but also neglecting the one meal that could improve both their short and long-term health.
Those patients that took my advice and changed their ways reported at follow up consults that since eating a nourishing breakfast, they snacked less and found it easier to make healthier food choices right throughout the day. They had better concentration, a happier mood and more energy to exercise. They also had the motivation to prepare a healthy dinner in the evening.
In my professional opinion, if you want to improve your overall health and wellbeing, start the day right with a nourishing breakfast. That’s the reason why my very first book ‘Rise and Shine’ was focussed on starting the day by fuelling your body with a wholesome breakkie.
I know you are just going to love this Spiced Breakfast Muffin recipe . It’s gluten, grain and dairy-free, but super light and fluffy in texture. Its also really easy to whip up and the muffins freeze really well too. My kids often have these on their way to early morning swim squads or for afternoon tea – perfect high energy food! Enjoy G x
Take a look at the variations (below the main recipe) for suggestions to alter the recipe to suit many specific dietary requirements.
If you’re looking to save money across pantry items such as nuts, seeds, flours and meals, I personally shop at The Wholefood Collective – great whole foods at heavily discounted prices (all home delivered), click HERE to take a look.
Spiced Breakfast Muffin
Ingredients
- 200 g sweet potato/s -peeled and diced 1-2cm
- 1 green apple -peeled and diced (large)
- 250 g nut butter (1 cup) *see note below
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- Pinch sea salt
- 3 free-range or organic egg/s
- 85 g rice malt syrup, honey or maple syrup (¼ cup)
- 30 g buckwheat flour (¼ cup)
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
*I recipe tested this with almond butter, cashew butter and also ABC (almond, brazil, cashew).
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180℃/350℉ (fan-forced). Line your muffin tray with safe, non-stick large muffin cases.
- Start with steaming the sweet potato and apple until cooked (mine took about 5 minutes).
- Once they are cooked, allow to cool for a few minutes and puree in a food processor or high speed blender. Thermomix 10 seconds, speed 5.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until just combined. Thermomix 20 seconds, speed 5.
- Pour into the muffin cases and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked (skewer inserted is clean).
Serve
- warm with butter
- with a smoothie (our favourites are Coco-beet Berry Smoothie, Tropical Green Smoothie, or a Chocolate Breakfast Smoothie.
Store
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
Johanna says
Hi Georgia,
I really want to try this recipe! Can you please give me an approximate of what 200g of sweet potato would be in ml or cups?
Also, does an egg substitution work? 3 eggs is quite a lot to replace with chia or flax, isn’t it?
Thanks so much!
Georgia Harding says
It is one medium sized potato or approx. 200ml (about a cup). I’m not confident the egg free would work either, but if you give it a try I’d love to hear how it turns out G x
Anne Vallence says
Can I substitute nut butter with plain butter? – nut allergy
Georgia Harding says
I’d go for sunflower seed butter (even mixed with tahini for nut free), regular butter may be too oily (no fibre like nut butter) G x
Pao Fi-ri says
Yes no plain butter. Wife made with plain butter no good very oily prob 2much cholesterol….
Kathryn says
Would it be ok to substitute almond meal for the buckwheat? I’m out of buckwheat at the moment and would love to make these this afternoon!
Georgia Harding says
Yes, I can’t see why not Gx
Kathryn says
Can I just say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I finally have a muffin recipe that ALL 3 kids love. I made them with the almond meal and they are so good! I also used 1/4 cup tahini & 3/4 cup almond butter (didn’t want to run out of almond butter) My son usually turns his nose up at any new recipes I try – but not this one. So delicious!
Georgia Harding says
You’re very welcome Kathryn. Yes this is a special recipe, mostly because of the lovely light, fluffy consistency I think (usually reserved for very processed muffins). Thrilled it was liked all round.
I’ve just steamed the sweet potato and apple myself as I had the steamer out to steam veggies for another recipe I’m working on – I’ll put it aside and whip these up when I next have the oven on. Maybe even fresh for brekkie tomorrow! G x
Shirley Mccombie says
How much coconut flour would I need to substitute the buckwheat flour with please ?
Georgia Harding says
At a guess a tbs Shirley G x
Alex says
Hi Georgia, Thanks for your fabulous recipes! If I wanted to substitute the sweetener for Xylitol, would that spoil it/ too dry? Alex
Georgia Harding says
Hi Alex, you’re welcome. I’m not familiar with cooking with xylitol – it is quite a wet mix before baked, my instinct says it will be fine. Let me know if you try it G x
Sharon says
Hi Georgia, this recipe looks delicious and easy! Just wondering if it would work steaming the sweet potato & apple in the TMX basket?
Georgia Harding says
It absolutely would for sure. I’m just a bit old fashioned with my steaming – lol. G x
Felicity Thomas says
anyone tried it with chia eggs?
Georgia Harding says
Some one via social media said they had tried and it didn’t work out. Sorry G x
Bridget kelly says
I just started following your page and I am so excited to try your recipes! I can’t wait to try this!! Can you suggest something to replace the apples? I am Fructose free. Thanks 🙂
Georgia Harding says
Welcome – these are a great place to start! Just increase the sweet potato or replace with pumpkin. Even zucchini would work I think. Love to hear how you like them G x
Bridget kelly says
Great! Thank you. I will try with some pumpkin 🙂 yes I will for sure!
Brooke Grayson says
Can this be frozen at all?
Georgia Harding says
Yes sure Brooke, pop in an airtight container. I toast/ warm in my sandwich press G x
Tamra Marment says
Thanks for this recipe. So light and fluffy. A hit with everyone. Will def make again. I added some cinnamon which worked great with the maple syrup.
Georgia Harding says
Glad you enjoyed and thanks so much for your feedback, they are a fave here too G x
Ilse van Staden says
Thank you for this great recipe. I substituted 100g of nut butter with normal butter and it was still lovely. I also didn’t bother to peel the sweet potato and apple (I rarely peel anything these days).
Georgia Harding says
So pleased you enjoyed it Ilse and thanks so much for including your variations, great to know G x
Vanessa says
Thank you for this recipe!! My 9 month old is loving these (I left out the salt and sweetener, and with each muffin quartered the batch goes a long long way).
Georgia Harding says
You’re very welcome Vanessa, thrilled your bub is enjoying them G x
Sonia says
I just made a batch of these and they are superb!
Georgia Harding says
Thrilled you enjoyed them Sonia, they are rather special. Thanks for the rating too Gx
Paula says
So easy and delicious – will be a regular here. Love it, like all your recipes.
Georgia Harding says
Thanks so much. Thrilled you love them Paula. Thanks for taking the time to post feedback and rate the recipe too G x
Sara says
I made these last night and they are yummy. But this morning they are dark green on the inside. Did I do something wrong? I can’t work out why they would go green. They seem to taste fine still though. Would storing them in the fridge prevent them turning green?
Georgia Harding says
Hi Sara, I’m wondering if the nut butter you used had sunflower seeds in it. I’ve not had this before with this recipe specifically but have with some of my other recipes (especially my carrot cake slice often goes green). I’ve cut and pasted my explanation for this – Sunflower seeds contain chlorogenic acid which reacts with the baking powder and bicarb when it’s heated and turns various shades of green when cooled. To reduce the ‘shrek-look’ you can reduce the baking powder or bicarb (by about a third) or add 2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar to the wet ingredients. But remember – even if they do turn green, they are completely safe to eat. You might even like to use this as a way to turn cakes green on purpose? Hope this helps G x
Aneta says
What a great recipe???
Georgia Harding says
So thrilled you love it Aneta G x
Greshen says
This are super delicious. So light and fluffy. Would never know there is sweet potato hidden in there. I used almond flour as I had no buckwheat. Thanks for an amazing recipe that will be made over and over again here.
Georgia Harding says
Thanks Greshen – so glad you loved them as much as I do! G x
Amy Rockwe says
Is the “spice mix” thensame as All Spice?
Georgia Harding says
I think they are slightly different but interchangeable Amy, enjoy G x
Tania says
Hi there, every year we have loads of Hazelnuts on our tree that just go to waste. Could I make Hazelnut butter and use for this recipe?
Georgia Harding says
Hi Tania. Oh you’re so lucky. I can’t see why that wouldn’t work – I’ve used lots of different types/ brands nut butter and it has worked a treat G x
Heather Christie-Johnston says
Thanks so much Georgia! They’re delicious!!
Georgia Harding says
So pleased you enjoyed them Heather and thanks for rating the recipe too G x
Jessi says
Hubby, kids and I loved these for breakfast, alongside a green smoothie! We’ve been looking for alternatives to cereal, and also GF DF. Thankyou for a delicious recipe and inspiration.
Georgia Harding says
That’s awesome Jessi, we’ve had the same brekkie today actually. You’re very welcome, Georgia x PS- cheers for the 5 stars too
Claire says
Lovely muffins, made them first time this morning and didn’t have apple so substituted a ripe pear, made 24 mini muffins and 6 normal size. My nearly 3 year old son has had 3 mini and 1 normal and asking for more lol, love the light, fluffy texture
Georgia Harding says
So glad you enjoyed them and thanks for sharing your tweeks too. Georgia x
Amber says
I made these today & they were great – much lighter & finer textured than I expected from the ingredients. Delicious flavour & good texture, perfect really and enjoyed by everyone. I don’t have a Thermomix etc so I made by combining all wet ingredients (just mashed the sweet potato & apple well with a fork) & then briefly stirring into the sieved dry ingredients.
Gina says
I’ve made these so many times, we just love them! I’ve varied recipe at times by adding in sultanas at the end, extra mixed spice and extra cinnamon, less sweetener etc.
Today I didn’t have any sweet potato, yet I had all other ingredients on hand, so I made them with 200g pumpkin instead of sweet potato and so delicious. My advice is to adjust your sweetener to suit your taste, if using pumpkin.
Georgia, your recipes are so wholesome and tasty. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us all. xx
Georgia Harding says
You’re very welcome Gina, so great to know re the pumpkin too, love it, cheers Georgia x
Vicky says
I’ve made these so many times because my boys have them for breakfast. They’re now asking for some different flavours – any thoughts how I can adjust this a bit? Would it work if I made them all apple? Or apple and carrot?
Georgia Harding says
Hi Vicky, so glad they love them. Yes you could try for sure. I think apple, even banana might be a good alternative to the sweet potato. You could also mix in some dried fruit if they like it? Or a few berries folded through the batter at the end of mixing. I haven’t recipe tested these, but that’s the way I’d go next to mix it up. Let me know how they go G x
Vicky says
Thanks, I’ll give them a try – I think they would love banana!
Hayley says
I made these recently after discovering your website and yummy recipes and they are so yummy. I have recently found out though that my 3 year old daughter has an alergy/intolerance to Cinnamon and breaks out in hives/rashes. Just wondering if you have any ideas on what I could sub the cinnamon for? She loved them when I baked them.
Thank you
Georgia Harding says
You’re very welcome Hayley. You could leave it out or replace it with another sweet spice like vanilla or cardamon. G x
Hayley says
Thank you for the reply. Ill give it a go. Im sure they will still be a hit with her. Love your recipes!
Julia says
I subbed two of the eggs for bananas and used nutmeg instead of mixed spice. I also used almond butter with chia seeds. Turned out perfect.
Thanks!
Georgia Harding says
So fabulous to know this worked out with those subs, thanks so much for sharing G x
Michele says
oh my gosh! have just baked these fluffy, delicious bites of heaven! Thanks Georgia.
Georgia Harding says
So glad you enjoyed them Michele, appreciate the 5 🌟s too G x
Lynne Raines says
Hi Georgia, I finally got to make these delicious muffins…soooo good, of course as soon as I said SPICED TO G he screwed up his nose… now its his favourite breakfast ….. lol 😘
Georgia Harding says
I had such a giggle reading this Lynne- such a victory knowing I’ve cracked your fussy bloke with one of my recipes 😂
Melinda Chambers says
Hi Georgia,
I tried making these substituting the nut butter with half tahini and half coconut oil and the result was not good. They turned out very bitter from the tahini. The texture was beautiful so I will try them again with nut butter. The reason I did the swap was so my daughter could take them to school (nut free).
I can probably salvage this batch by serving with healthy custard. 🙂
Georgia Harding says
Yes, tahini is quite bitter, I would choose sunflower butter to make them nut-free but that also may turn them green 😉 as sometimes happens with sunflowers in baking. The texture is lovely though for sure G x
Lorrae says
Does this recipe require 2 tsp bicarbonate soda or baking powder?
I used the bicarbonate soda & tastes very metallic?
Thanks kindly
Georgia Harding says
Hi Lorrae, I use soda, but I keep it in airtight in the freezer as when it goes off it can make things bitter. G x
Jo says
Every batch these turn out a winner! Thanks Georgia
Georgia Harding says
So glad you love them Jo, cheers for the 5 stars too G x
Jessica Denholm says
First time I made these, they were very buck-wheaty. Some other members recommended leaving the sweet potato and apple fairly chunky in the mix so that their sweetness was more present and now we really enjoy them.
Georgia Harding says
Ah great tip, thanks for adding it here Jessica G x